The Charles Olson Society of Gloucester in collaboration with many local partners has organized more than a dozen events to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Charles Olson's birth. Contact the society at jcgloucester@hotmail.com.

DiPrima, who is featured in Society member Henry Ferrini's film about Olson Polis is This, is currently the Poet Laureate of San Francisco. She has received lifetime achievement awards from the National Poetry Association and the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association. She has received grants from the Lapis Foundation, the National Endowment n the Arts, the Committee on Poetry, and the Institute for Aesthetic Development.

Of far greater importance than the many laurels she has earned has been her commitment to the ongoing project of cultivating a life in poetry. To get a sense of this commitment read click here to read "The Poetry Deal" written in 1993 but published most recently in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 16, 2010.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3Charles Olson: Letters Home, Book SigningReading and reception with the book's editor David RichSunday, October 3 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.Cape Ann Museum, 27 Pleasant StreetAmmiel Alcalay reading from IslandersSunday, October 3 at 7:00 p.m.The Bookstore of Gloucester, 61 Main Street

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(Click on the photograph to go to the blog of photographer, Mark Power)

Gloucester Writers Center

Gloucester may soon be home to a new cultural and literary center. When Gloucester’s Poet Laureate Vincent Ferrini died on Christmas Eve 2007, many of his friends in Gloucester and around the world hoped his house could be purchased andturned into a center where artistic activities could be shared with the community. Today this idea is very close to becoming a reality.

Plans are progressing to establish The Vincent Ferrini Writers Center at 126 East Main Street, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. This former home of Vincent Ferrini (1913-2007) lies across the harbor from Charles Olson’s (1910-1970) 28 Fort Square home. These two poets, known as the consciences of our city for over half a century, wrote about Gloucester with enlightened passion and energy. Organizers of this project believe it is only fitting that a place that honors their work and keeps their vision alive be established.

Since Ferrini’s death Paul Sawyer, an old friend of Vincent’s who lives in California, has been advocating for the purchase of the house. This spring, Sawyer, a Unitarian-Universalist Minister, called Vincent’s nephew filmmaker Henry Ferrini to report that he has Pancreatic Cancer and has been given a year to live. With that time he wanted to put his energy toward helping to create a Vincent Ferrini Writers Center at Vincent’s East Main Street studio. The poet’s nephew was moved by Paul’s decision.

“Paul’s decision has motivated so many people close to Vincent, Charles and Paul to work to make this a reality,” Ferrini said.

To date the group has raised $23,000 and hopes to raise ten times that amount during the upcoming year. This would enable the organization to own the house outright,repair the building and begin to develop programs for the site, including public readings, writing workshops and residencies for local and visiting writers.

According to Ferrini, the timing for this project could not be more perfect.

“This year is the Centenary of Charles Olson’s birth,” he says, “and attention is focused on the poet.”

The group hopes that by October when Gloucester celebrates Olson’s centenary the project will be up and running, presenting programs, providing a writer’s retreat andfunctioning as one of the most innovative educational and cultural organization in the city.

Tax-deductible contributions for the establishing of the Center can be made to the Charles Olson Society and sent to Henry Ferrini, 5 Wall Street, Gloucester, MA 01930.